Seismic Performance Evaluation of a Frame System Strengthened with External Self-Centering Components

In the context of China’s promotion of green buildings and resilient urban development, new reinforcement technologies offer significant development prospects, while traditional methods have limited effectiveness in enhancing structural resilience. To address this latter issue, this study proposes a novel reinforcement method that involves enlarging the structural cross-section and adding external self-resetting components to improve seismic performance. While this method has been validated through quasi-static tests, limitations in terms of sample size and experimental conditions necessitate further research into the seismic performance and dynamic behavior of the reinforced framework. Consequently, this study uses finite element analysis to explore the influencing factors and dynamic characteristics of the reinforcement method. The results show that finite element modeling effectively simulates the stress characteristics of reinforced frameworks. Installing prefabricated beams significantly enhances the load-bearing capacity by 18% and reduces the residual deformation rates after earthquakes by 26%. Increased pre-tensioning of the steel strands further improves seismic resilience. This reinforcement method enables older structures lacking self-resetting capabilities to achieve some degree of self-resetting ability, and it performs well under various earthquake conditions.